In current events, the United States government has demanded that Apple decrypt the iPhone of Syed Rizwan Farook, a shooter involved in the San Bernardino attacks. On the surface, this mandate seems harmless; after all, the government simply wants to access Farook’s phone in hopes of preventing similar, future attacks. However, reality proves far more ambiguous and has become a quagmire; there is certainly more going on here than meets the eye. These bizarre turn of events can potentially be pernicious to the American public’s freedom and security in general, and these same circumstances—if not diagnosed and redressed now—may have irrevocable consequences.
For starters, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has had myriad options and roads …show more content…
If the public knew that iPhone was no longer secure, no one would have a reason to use the iPhone anymore. The “bad guys” would know this too, of course, and immediately cease usage of these devices. Doing this would be an awful business decision for Apple and far from what anyone would call strategic. It is not simply bad for Apple either: if the government can force Apple to create a backdoor into iPhones, it can force every, single phone-making company into creating backdoors for every, single phone in the United States. The very notion of security on mobile devices would be expunged from existence as we know it.
However, these are just some of the consequences that the future—in the direction it is heading—might bring; there are several intriguing things about past events as well. Apple creating this Gov-OS (assuming that route is even possible) was not the only—or even the best— course of action the FBI could have taken in handling Farook’s iPhone. There are several ways to elude the iPhone’s typical security functions that can only be abused when the iPhone has not shut off since the last valid …show more content…
If the iCloud password had not been tampered with, then the phone could have begun backing to the iCloud, but changing the password severed the connection between the phone and the iCloud, since the phone needed a valid login since the password change to begin backing up. (The correct password being something that the FBI does not have.) Both the FBI and Apple agreed that letting the iPhone connect to the iCloud would have been a viable option.
The second mistake was letting the phone power down. Now, the FBI has recently claimed that they found the phone in a powered-down state. However, this conflicts with their previous stance: the iCloud was indeed a viable solution to accessing information from the phone. If they had found the phone already powered down, then the phone would not have automatically started backing up to the iCloud because it had not recently been validly logged into. These inconsistencies suggest that the FBI has not been thoroughly honest with their evidence, or that they had just lost their minds for a few brief moments
For starters, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has had myriad options and roads …show more content…
If the public knew that iPhone was no longer secure, no one would have a reason to use the iPhone anymore. The “bad guys” would know this too, of course, and immediately cease usage of these devices. Doing this would be an awful business decision for Apple and far from what anyone would call strategic. It is not simply bad for Apple either: if the government can force Apple to create a backdoor into iPhones, it can force every, single phone-making company into creating backdoors for every, single phone in the United States. The very notion of security on mobile devices would be expunged from existence as we know it.
However, these are just some of the consequences that the future—in the direction it is heading—might bring; there are several intriguing things about past events as well. Apple creating this Gov-OS (assuming that route is even possible) was not the only—or even the best— course of action the FBI could have taken in handling Farook’s iPhone. There are several ways to elude the iPhone’s typical security functions that can only be abused when the iPhone has not shut off since the last valid …show more content…
If the iCloud password had not been tampered with, then the phone could have begun backing to the iCloud, but changing the password severed the connection between the phone and the iCloud, since the phone needed a valid login since the password change to begin backing up. (The correct password being something that the FBI does not have.) Both the FBI and Apple agreed that letting the iPhone connect to the iCloud would have been a viable option.
The second mistake was letting the phone power down. Now, the FBI has recently claimed that they found the phone in a powered-down state. However, this conflicts with their previous stance: the iCloud was indeed a viable solution to accessing information from the phone. If they had found the phone already powered down, then the phone would not have automatically started backing up to the iCloud because it had not recently been validly logged into. These inconsistencies suggest that the FBI has not been thoroughly honest with their evidence, or that they had just lost their minds for a few brief moments